


It took me four seasons to tell you I loved you

by PollyWeasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Botched spell, Comfort, Community: hp_drizzle, Four Seasons, Friends to Lovers, HP Drizzle Fest 2019, Implied Anxiety, M/M, No Smut, Rated T for language, Season fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-09-01 21:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20265097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PollyWeasley/pseuds/PollyWeasley
Summary: Draco and Harry had been partners on the Ministry for two years now since the new rules said that an Auror must be partnered with a Curse-Breaker, and vice-versa. They were the top ones from each respective area, Ron Weasley had been named Head Auror, and they were a great team. So it wasn’t a huge surprise for Harry when Draco called him from the Department of Mysteries to help him with something, but he didn’t imagine his partner has managed to create the whole four seasons in his office. It forced them to work together, and Harry just hoped that the other man didn’t notice the massive crush Harry had on him.





	It took me four seasons to tell you I loved you

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much my beautiful beta for helping me out with this fic. It wouldn't be here without you. I hope you all like it even with the lack of smut. Writing a small fic isn't really my thing, but I've been stressing out lately and my anxiety reached peak levels, so I hope you all can forgive me and enjoy this story anyways. Thank you <3 Also, Thank you the mods for being amazing people!

When Harry got Draco’s memo asking him to go to his office, it wasn’t really a surprise. Draco used to say that, in order to be an amazing curse-breaker, one had to understand magical theory as if it was their own soul and mind. And it might just be true because Draco was the best curse-breaker of the whole department since he and Harry had been partnered together two years ago. With this said, it was also true he was prone to… Accidents. Draco loved to test new spells and charms, and while they had so far never really harmed anyone, sometimes Draco’s magic did have consequences he wasn’t happy with, so Harry was called to help him with those situations.

It was a five minutes’ walk from his office to Draco’s, and Harry didn’t knock when he opened the door. He immediately regretted it. A cold wind blew his hair, making it even messier than before. Harry got into the office, shivering a bit while his mouth just fell open.

Entering Draco’s office was like entering another dimension.

Draco’s office had always been big for his experiments, of course, but the proportions of what Harry was seeing seemed like something straight out of a fantasy book. The office was divided in four, with Draco being in the centre of where the four parts touched. Soft winter snow was on Harry’s right side, and Harry could almost listen to Christmas songs and feel the taste of hot cocoa in his mouth. At his left, it was deliciously warm, with the smell of sea breeze and the sound of the wind running through coconut trees. At the side of Winter, Autumn leaves were sprouting from Draco’s bookcase, and some fruits were plump, hanging from some branches. On the other side, flowers were blossoming, the little buds opening their arms to Harry and inviting him in. Their smell was also delicious.

“That’s… Beautiful,” Harry mumbled, before looking at Draco.

The Curse-breaker was completely soaked. He was looking at Harry, utterly shocked because it seemed like the weather inside his office wasn’t being very kind to him.

“How come even my fucking botched spell likes you, Potter?!” Draco complained, and Harry couldn’t help but laugh. He grabbed a few pieces of the dry paper that had fallen on the floor and transfigured them into a towel. His spellwork was a bit scratchy since he was no Hermione, but the towel was dry and warm. He walked to Draco, placing the towel around his friend and slowly dried his hair.

“What happened?” Harry asked, and looking down at Draco’s face. The first thing Harry noticed was his friend had wet eyes, his breathing was broken and far too fast. Fuck, he was having a panic attack. How long this had been going on, Harry didn’t know. “Hey. Hey, Dray. Look at me.”

Draco did, holding onto the towel like it was going to save his life.

“I was just trying to make the temperature different. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. So many important docs have been destroyed, and the autumn tree is destroying my books, and—“

“Okay, Draco, so the spell is botched and you were trying for something different. But I need you to stop and breathe, okay? We’re going to fix it,” Harry said, holding Draco’s arms and running his hands up and down them.

He couldn’t help but feel his heart thundering inside his chest. Draco was so handsome, even when wet and panicking. Harry had harboured feelings for his friend for about a year now. It started as friendship, pure and simple, and even though Harry thought of Draco as one of his best friends now (and even Ron and Hermione included him in everything nowadays), ever since the fateful day where Draco had truly, _truly_ laughed because of something Harry had said, his feelings switched to something different.

Of course, he didn’t trust himself to tell Draco about these feelings, but he’d never stop being his best friend when his blond little kitten needed him. No way.

But all the kind words, though, weren’t any kind of help at the moment. Draco kept looking around, the snow on the winter side falling thick and deep, more and more flowers and fruits sprouted and bloomed. Even some small crabs were appearing from the summer side.

“Hey, Draco, come on. Can you look at me?”

Draco did, his eyes so full of tears that they’d be falling any moment. “What are you seeing? Look at me and tell me what you’re seeing.”

“I’m… I’m… I’m seeing you,” Draco said, his voice trembling.

“Yes, and what else? What can you see in me?” Harry coached.

“Ahm… I’m… Seeing your glasses… Your hair… You… You have freckles all over your face.”

“Yes, I do,” Harry smiled, and Draco mirrored his smile, his eyes getting less watery. “And what about the smells? What can you smell?”

“Hm… The sea… And cinnamon… And your deodorant smells like chocolate…”

“It does. You bought it for me as a joke,” Harry replied, and he saw Draco’s eyes drooping a little. The other man was completely exhausted. Harry pulled him in for a hug, slowly, and Draco wrapped his arms around Harry like he completely needed it.

“I like your smell,” Draco mumbled against his shoulder, and Harry had to close his eyes and breathe deeply so he wouldn’t do something he would regret later. Like kissing the hell out of Draco.

“I like yours too, mate. Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah.”

“Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to fix it season by season so we don’t get overwhelmed. What do you think it’s the worse one?”

“Autumn. The tree is destroying that side of the office.” Draco pointed but didn’t take his face out of Harry’s red uniform coat.

“And the least bad one?”

“Summer…. There are little animals, but they’re not eating anything yet.” Draco said, and Harry didn’t stop himself from caressing his back. Draco almost melted in his arms.

“So we’re going in this order… Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. Is that okay?”

Draco nodded, and Harry crooked his head a bit to look at his face. Draco had his eyes closed, his mouth in a pout as he was breathing softly.

“And now, I’m going to take you home, change your clothes, and leave a letter to your boss telling him you needed a moment after the botched spell. Is that fine?”

Draco nodded again and hugged Harry a bit more tightly before relaxing again.

“You’re my best friend, Harry.”

Harry sighed, thinking of how much he wanted to be more than Draco’s friend.

“You’re my best friend too, mate. Now let’s get you home.”

_|| Autumn ||_

After putting Draco to bed and making some sandwiches for him to eat under a preservation spell – Draco’s pantry was sadly empty, and Harry hated how little his friend ate these days -, Harry came back to the Ministry and emptied Draco’s office, transferring his things to his own office. Draco would be mad because things weren’t alphabetically organised and colour coded, but at least they wouldn’t be destroyed by the weather.

On the next day, as Draco arrived at work, it took him about 10 minutes to open Harry’s office’s door. He was clearly relieved when he saw all his things to one side of the office, and looked back at Harry, his shoes a bit wet.

“Thanks… For yesterday.” Draco said, and Harry smiled, getting up and walking until they were close.

It was funny how, after getting rid of Voldemort’s piece inside of him, Harry grew taller. He was stronger, both mentally and physically, and he towered over Draco. The other man was not only shorter, thinner and lean. The perfect size to be in Harry’s arms. Harry had to forcefully change his train of thought.

“You’re welcome. Do you have any idea of what we can do to fix your office?”

Harry always found beautiful the way Draco would change his face completely when he meant business. Draco was so good at his job because he absolutely_ loved_ fixing things. It was his talent, and he stood taller, puffing his chest and raising his pointy chin.

“Yes, I think I have a few ideas. All of the things I tried yesterday were in vain, but I think that the spell is related to me, somehow. Like… Of course, it is related to me, because I cast it, but… I meant emotionally.”

“Why do you think that?” Harry asked, gently holding onto Draco’s shoulder so they would start walking to the curse-breaker’s office. Draco went with him, his eyes shining with knowledge and excitement.

“Well, it happened before. Remember that time when I made a stool follow me around while barking? I was kind of thinking I’d love to have a dog because my flat is just… Way too silent. It stopped following me when I got Bubbles.” Draco said. Bubbles was his dog, a white and black Shihtzu. The small dog was bat-shit crazy, but Draco adored the thing. Harry had to admit he adored Bubbles, too. “And when you got into my office yesterday…”  
  
Draco stopped, and Harry looked at him. The man had a thoughtful face, and after a minute, Harry couldn’t wait anymore.

“What happened after I got into your office?”

“No talking, Harry, I’m thinking!” Draco said, turning and walking fast to his office. Harry sighed, but followed him to the office.

It wasn’t as easy as Draco thought. They found out the Autumn tree responded to their talking, but it only sprouted more and more apples and pears. It even appeared to giggle when one of the apples fell on Harry’s head, which made Draco fall on the floor, cackling.

They spent the first day trying to talk to it. They asked it to leave, they told the tree they didn’t need it, they tried to sing to it, dance around and even shooing it. Nothing worked, but the tree actually got angry with the shooing, slapping Draco on the face.

On the second day, with a plaster on his cheek, Draco tried to spell it away with every single spell he knew. Harry tried to cut it out by force, and after a few tried, he too had a cut on his face.

“Defeated by a fucking tree. Who would’ve thought?” Harry said, sitting under the tree and sighing. A few apples and pears fell to his side, and Draco sat at his right, the fruits between them.

“I think we’re doing something wrong. Maybe it’s not really related to me.” Draco said, grabbing an apple and analysing it. “They are so pretty, though.”

“They are. I bet they are delicious.” Harry said, and before Draco could rip it from his hands while screaming ‘Harry, no!’, he’d already taken a huge bite out of it.

“Spit it out!” Draco tried to hold his cheeks as you would do to a dog that is chewing something they weren’t supposed to, but Harry moved his face, laughing.

“It’s just an apple, Dray. Calm down,” he said, swallowing it and taking another bite. “It’s really good. I can’t feel any bad magic in it.”

“Are you sure?” Draco asked, and his stomach grumbled loudly. Harry looked at him, to his small face and pointy features.

“Yes, Dray. Eat something. You haven’t been eating properly lately and I’m worried about you.” Harry admitted, and Draco looked down, grabbing a pear to disguise the fact he was embarrassed.

“I… I start working and I lose the notion of time. I forget to eat sometimes, and when I notice, it’s time to go already.”

“I know. But I’ve called you to eat with me many times. You should just stop what you’re doing at lunchtime and come with me.”

Draco didn’t say anything. He took the pear to his mouth, biting it gently, so different from Harry, and the fruit juice made his lips shiny. Harry had to look away from his lips so he wouldn’t stare.

“Next time you see I’m getting too much into work and I’m not eating… Just… Grab me, you know? I… I really do forget I’m hungry and I’m not good at stopping things once I started them.” Draco asked, and Harry nodded, putting his arm over Draco’s shoulder, hugging him.

They ate in silence, enjoying the comfort of each other’s presence, and after a few minutes and many eaten fruits later, Draco sighed loudly.

“Enough. I’m so full I don’t think I can ever eat again anymore.” Draco declared, his eyes closed and his stomach showing a bit from the food. Harry found it adorable, and he laughed, pointing it out.

“You have a food baby.”

“Fuck you, Potter,” Draco laughed back, punching him on the shoulder.

Before Harry could retaliate, Draco screamed, falling backwards. He was supporting his back on the tree trunk, and out of nowhere, it seemed to disappear. The leaves and branches were moving into the walls like they were receding, and they looked at it until the only thing left was the proof they had eaten.

After a couple of seconds, Draco looked back to Harry.

“The tree wanted us to eat.”

Harry nodded, throwing the rest of their food in the trash, and looked at Draco.

“I think the tree wanted _you_ to eat. Maybe the four kinds of weather are trying to show you something, Dray. Maybe you were so focused on your job that your magic is trying to tell you you need to calm down. Like eating.”

Draco once again felt embarrassed and closed his eyes.

It hurt Harry when he noticed Draco was trying to hold back tears.

“Hey, Dray… Don’t… Don’t cry… I’m sorry if I said someth—“

“It wasn’t you, Harry,” Draco opened his eyes, looking at him, his tears falling down his cheeks. “I’m worried if I don’t do my job properly, I’ll go to Azkaban. I spent a week there. I don’t want to see that place anymore. Harry… I thought I didn’t have a soul anymore.”

“Oh, Draco, you’re not going there anymore. Not now, not ever. I promise you.” Harry hugged him tightly, caressing his back. Draco cried on his shoulder, and Harry closed his eyes. He didn’t say anything, although his heart was screaming the words in his head.

_I love you, I love you, I love you._

_|| Winter||_

Now that they knew what triggered the seasons, they tried another approach with Winter. On the day after the Autumn Episode, they sat at the Ministry’s cafeteria, drinking tea and trying to figure out what Draco would’ve wanted – or needed – related to the season.

“I’ve never cared much for Christmas. The parties at the Manor were always grand and beautiful. I also loved them if I ever was at Hogwarts at the time, so I don’t think we’ll need a Christmas celebration.” Draco mumbled, more to himself than to Harry, but the Auror was listening anyways.

“What about something hot? Do you feel cold constantly?” Harry asked, and Draco looked up, trying to remember.

“Well, I’m not very padded,” he pulled his sleeves up, showing his skinny, milky white arms. Where his Dark Mark was, only a scar was left. Draco told Harry that it disappeared on the day Voldemort was defeated. “So I guess I do feel colder than other people.”

“Would you accept some hot cocoa, then?” Harry asked, smiling, and Draco smiled back, nodding.

They set everything up on the next day. They pushed Draco’s office settee to the winter area and grabbed a lot of blankets and pillows from their houses. Harry made some hot chocolate for them, then sat Draco on the settee, putting pillows around him and some blankets over him. Draco looked so comfy when Harry gave him his mug, and Draco sipped it, moaning softly with the taste.

After a couple of seconds, he looked up at Harry, frowning his eyebrows.

“It feels weird, being here alone with you watching me,” Draco said, opening his blanket cocoon and inviting Harry in.

Harry didn’t take much time to grab his own mug. He sat beside Draco and cuddled between the blankets with him. They sipped their cocoa for a moment before Draco rested his head on Harry’s shoulder.

“I guess I never told you I… I’m really grateful for your friendship, Harry,” Draco said, closing his eyes. His mug was empty, so Harry finished his own and put both of their mugs aside. He didn’t really care if this didn’t work. It was so good to have Draco trust him that way.

“I never thought we were _able_ to be friends,” Harry said, and Draco smiled, finding Harry’s hand under the blankets and holding it.

“But we are. And you’ve made me so much better. I’m sorry that I was a complete prick when we were teens… I…”

“It’s okay, Draco. You’re still a prick. But you’re my prick.”

Draco smiled, closing his eyes, his hand still holding Harry’s tightly.

Harry couldn’t help but look at his face, so innocent and calm. He kept looking at him until it felt uncomfortably hot. The Auror looked around, seeing that none of the snow was there. Actually, the room was split in two now, and they were covered in blankets in the middle of _fucking summer_.

“It’s so fucking hot now,” Draco said, kicking the blankets out and looking around.

“Winter is gone,” Harry stated, and Draco rolled his eyes.

“Good observation, Mr Holmes.”

Harry smiled, thinking about why cuddling with Draco under a blanket made the Winter go away. Maybe, he just needed a hug. Once they started putting the blankets and pillows away, Harry had to bite his tongue so he wouldn’t say something he shouldn’t.

_I love you, I love you, I love you._

_||Spring||_

By the time they started working on Spring, half of Draco’s office was full of flowers. They smelt amazing, and Harry almost felt sorry for getting rid of it. They decided that the flower may have something related to Draco’s mother, who was currently living in France, so they tried a couple of things related to her.

Talking about Draco’s memories with his mother, then seeing pictures of her. They sat between the flowers with albums on their laps, talking and laughing of Draco’s baby photos. He was such an adorable little kid, that Harry just wanted to reach out, grab that baby and cuddle him forever.

They soon got bored and their conversation moved to other places, like Harry’s missions – he was currently out of any because he asked to be assigned to Draco’s spell damage fix. As they talked, Draco started plucking some flowers, making a crown out of them. Harry couldn’t stop looking at his hands, his fingers were long, almost bony, but so beautiful. He loved Draco’s hands, and he longed to hold them all the time.

Draco finished the crown, putting it on Harry’s head and immediately started another. Harry kept the flower crown on his head. It was a nice weight and it felt comfortable. He had an amazing gift Draco had just given him.

The smaller man soon finished another one, putting on his own head. He moved his head, looking directly at Harry’s eyes.

“What do you think?”

Harry observed Draco’s face, his pink nose and lips, grey eyes, silver-blond hair with multi-coloured flowers on it. He looked like a Tolkien elf, and Harry felt his heart skip a beat.

“You’re so beautiful…” Harry whispered, and Draco’s eyes widened, his mouth dropped, and his cheeks got pink.

It was like the whole room was blooming, like all the flowers grew around them, mixing with the sunny sensation of the summer, and then…

It was gone.

Only their flower crowns remained.

Harry didn’t know why he moved. He knew he wasn’t supposed to do it, but the moment, and Draco’s face and the feelings inside his chest… He moved forward, his eyes almost closing. Draco’s mouth opened a little, his eyes closing, inviting Harry in…

“Hey, guys! We’re having an early tea today! Would you want to come over?” Ellie, the Department of Secret’s secretary spoke from the door, not even fucking knocking before interrupting them.

Draco looked completely embarrassed, and he soon took the crown out of his head, getting up quicker than Harry could say _expelliarmus_.

“We’re going! Right, Harry?” Draco looked down at him, beaming, and Harry physically felt summer taking over the office.

“Yes, we’re in.”

_I love you, I love you, I fucking love you so fucking much_.

_||Summer||_

After they defeated all the seasons except summer, they decided to put Draco’s things back into his office. It was quick since they could do it with their wands, but Harry felt a bit bad for being by himself on his office again.

Summer being the least dangerous one, they had time to think about what it would mean. Draco wasn’t a fan of being hot, so he would constantly sigh and whine about how hot his office was. Harry made fun of him, but he also didn’t like the 25 Celsius Degrees of that place. They were cooking every time they tried to be there with their coats on.

Harry decided, maybe they ought to have some fun. He made them use light clothes, made some cold beverages and brought them some games. It didn’t work, really. So then, they decided summer meant seeing friends and being around people, so they asked Ron, Hermione, Pansy and Millie to play twister with them.

It was terribly fun, and Draco won all of their rounds, Ron and Millie being the worst ones, Hermione and Harry only doing it for fun, and Pansy coming to a very close to first second. After a couple of hours, though, they had to come back to their own offices and it was still too hot.

“I’m fucking sorry, Draco, but this is too hot. I have to take it off,” Harry said, taking his t-shirt off and trying to create some wind around himself with it. His body was covered in sweat, and his body hair was practically glued to his tanned skin. It felt so much better that he stopped for a moment, his body cooling before he noticed Draco looking at him with his mouth open and a vacant stare. “Dray?”

Draco didn’t answer. He walked closer to Harry, held his neck with both of his hands and pulled Harry onto a kiss.

Harry was shocked. For a moment, his mouth didn’t move and his eyes were wide open. As if thinking he made a wrong decision, Draco started to back out, but Harry threw his tee away and grabbed him by his waist, kissing him back with lips, tongue and teeth. Draco moaned into his mouth, melting in his arms and giving back as good as he received, pushing Harry back until he was against the wall.

They kissed for so long it seemed like it was an eternity, but they needed to breathe, and soon they were panting against each other’s mouths.

“Draco… Fuck, Draco… I love you so much,” Harry whispered, and Draco looked up at him, his hands on Harry’s chest, his cheeks red and lips looking thoroughly kissed.

“It took you only four bloody seasons to tell me it?” Draco asked, and Harry smiled, kissing him against just because he couldn’t help himself.

“Maybe your spell wanted to make us date,” Harry said, and Draco smiled, now really sure of how to proceed. He gave a step back, though, looking up at Harry.

“I… I love you, too. I’ve loved you for so long… But I was afraid to tell you because I didn’t want to lose your friendship…”

“Draco… Even if we become boyfriends. Even if we get engaged. Even if we marry and adopt a quidditch team of little kids, you’d still be my best friend.” Harry assured him, and Draco hugged him tightly, breathing in and closing his eyes.

“I fucking love your smell,” Draco whispered, and Harry closed his eyes, hugging him tightly.

Yes, it took him four seasons, but now that he felt like he could say it, he was going to say it again.

“I love you, Draco.”

~Fin

**Author's Note:**

> This story/art is part of an anonymous fest: drizzle 2019. Reveals will be in mid-october. Please do not repost anywhere else without explicit permission from the original creator.


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